Link

Hiya!

I thought it might be helpful to add a link to the “Issues” page. As, my sister couldn’t find it herself when she first visited this blog.

http://tkacm.wordpress.com/issues/

Issue for June 2008 is available.

-Kaya

Issue 1

Issue 1 – June 2008

This is the moment you have all been waiting for. You can now calm that anxiety by going to the “issues” page, by clicking on that tab at the top of the screen. Yes, I have released the issue early. I’m not exactly sure if I was going to be online on the 15th or the 14th for that matter. Sit back, and enjoy the issue.

-Kaya

yarn.

I like yarn.
I really like it.
Actually, I also like fabric and buttons and lace, as well as ribbon and bias binding and thread and ink and paint and paintbrushes and glue – but this is a knitting magazine (and crochet magazine, don’t hound me) and mostly we knit with yarn. (Personally I’ve never been fond of the experimental stuff spun up by fibre artists, although I acknowlege it as a form of art. Art, not knitting material.)

But I want to knit a cardigan – actually, two. And I want them to be perfect, which means choosing materials wisely. (I have made two jumpers and a cardigan from handwash-only wool and I’ve never washed them.) For me, choosing which yarn to use to knit a garment with is a little akin to deciding whether to paint with acrylics, watercolours or inks. But unlike art materials, where the initial cost is high but you get your money’s worth in the long time it takes to use a tube of acrylic paint up, yarn costs a lot.

Costs a lot.
Then you knit with it. Use it up. Hopefully you wear your jumper lots, and hopefully (unlike me, apparently) you wash it.
And then what? You need something else to knit. So you have to buy more.

It’s so hard. Hard because I’m sixteen and am saving nearly all of the money from my Saturday job towards art school. Hard because I’m fussy and refuse to use materials which are cheap in quality. I know that some knitters (or crocheters – stop hounding me!) will buy yarn on impulse, because it’s pretty, but personally I’m not like that. I have to have a purpose.

(…At least, I’m not like that now. I think that I was when I started knitting, for I’ve got various balls and skeins of yarn that I have no desire to knit with.)

I know that I shall simply have to find a compromise, and knit with a second-choice instead. And I’m sure I’ll be perfectly happy when I’ve finished the cardigans.

But even so. I’m dreaming of baby alpaca and silk as I order inexpensive superwash merino.

-Anushka
http://magic-fingers.blogspot.com

introductions

Since I volunteered (and was accepted!) to contribute to this blog I thought that an introduction would be fitting, since I feel that you readers have a right to be aware of whose opinions you are reading. (It makes disagreeing with them all the easier.)

When I was a bit younger I used to contribute to these stupid forums (or Newsgroups, as the Germans fondly call them) where you would be digitally attacked with the short and spiky phrase “A/S/L??!???“. In the same way that I get really frustrated when strangers at gatherings ask “So, what kind of music do you like?“, the A/S/L thing (or Age, Sex, Location) can get old, really fast. But then I think, you’ll get to know me a bit (or at least, a bit better) by actually reading the articles that I’ll write here. So to be a sport, I’ll let you know that my name is Anushka, I’m sixteen, and I reside in London (the original one).

I knit, but rarely follow other designers’ patterns, as well as sew and “do” art. I write a blog at http://magic-fingers.blogspot.com, where I also sell my knitting patterns. (I’ve got several free ones, too.) Oh, and I study French and am a stickler for correct spelling, punctuation and grammar. Don’t be confused if I start writing in another language, and don’t be offended if I correct your sentences.

I’m really looking forward to writing in the Teen Knitter & Crocheter group, and seeing the finished copy. I didn’t directly contribute anything, per se, but I designed the banner/logo (or banner logo) that you can see if you scroll upwards.

Must dash!
-Anushka
xox

Shout Outs

I’m almost finished with the first issue of TKaCM. Almost. I need something to tie it in.  So, if you would like – you can leave some shout outs and I will put them in the magazine. Just leave your two initials, and a shout out in the form of a comment. ~Kaya

La Banner

Anushka T from Magic-fingers has finished the banner. It is beautiful and unique. However, I did have to crop it to fit the “custom blog banner” requirements, so it’s not exactly all there. In the magazine, you’ll be able to see the whole thing.

The magazine is actually coming along. Working on it has given me a chance to read house everyones writing, and a chance to see how talented everyone is. I’m itching to release it early this month, but I can wait, and I’m sure you all can wait too!

I have gotten a few stupid emails from people asking questions about TKaCM, (no, not people from ravelry!) coming from my blog; www.sisterlyknits.com.  I wonder if people ask stupid questions to be funny and spam – or do they do it because they really have no clue? I’ve figured that some people just aren’t familliar with the things you are, and they really don’t get the point. Sadly, it’s an annoying thing to deal with. ~ Kaya 

This won’t be hard

This is a blog for the Teen Knitter and Crocheter Magazine blog. Fantastic warnings for the fans:  there will be opinions, comments, and overall major internet butt-kicking. Readers of the up-coming magazine are free to express thoughts, and they wil be read regularly.

TKaCM is the start of a new generation, and have to prove that we- as younger knitters and crocheters can become as sucessful as the older generations and can create a new chapter in the book.